Conference add-on: Russian play, great acting

Sunday — We’ve had some moving moments this week at the O’Neill. Must be the spectre of ATCA’s birthing Under the Copper Beech so many years ago. Sunday afternoon a few of us attended the reading of Natashina Mechta, i.e. Natasha’s Dream at the Rose Barn Theater. Billed as “The Russian Project,” it was a special (may I add, a VERY) special matinee performance of a new play by young woman Russian playwright Yaroslava Pulinovich.  A one woman tour de force deftly delivered by actress Mattie Hawkinson who had rehearsed a mere two days. She drew chills, shudders and tears. She’s one of those “Remember her Names.” Audience members George White and Dina Merrill were looking fab.

— Lynn Rosen, Bellingham, Wash.